Jan 1, 2021, 8:29 am
Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
01 - If your flight is cancelled by BA:
Commercial booking: Your options are: cash refund OR Future Travel Voucher (FTV) OR rebooking OR Avios credit
Redemption booking: Your options are: full refund of cash and Avios OR FTV OR rebooking.
BA Holidays booking: You should be given a refund pro-actively.
If your flight is cancelled by BA - any flight in the PNR - you can get a full refund so long as you booked directly with BA. You can only get a refund by telephoning BA. Refunds are taking between a few hours to a few weeks to be repaid, depending on the sort of booking made. If you don't wish to travel you can opt for an FTV or eVoucher valid for travel until 30 April 2023 (now extended from April 2022 including existing FTVs), though flights more than 355 days away are not currently bookable - flights are enabled at 355 days before departure. Vouchers such as 2-4-1 are also thereby extended. You can do this even if the flight is operating. The best advice we can give is to delay opting for an eVoucher options until the last moment, since if BA cancel your flight you have more options. BA have also adjusted the Standard Customer Guidelines so that if BA cancel the flight you can be rebooked to anytime in 12 months after you originally bought the ticket, so long as there is space in the cabin - there is no need to have a fare bucket available or Avios availability. If you choose the Avios credit you will get between 108 to 126 Avios per GBP of your fare. If you us,ed an FTV to pay for this now cancelled service then you can have a refund back to the FTV's original booking.
Online forms: manual process which may take many weeks
link to webform to claim a refund (UK) or link to webform to claim a refund (US)
Paid Seating Refund:
link to webform to claim a refund (UK)
02 - If your flight is not cancelled but you no longer wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until 31 August 2022 (this has been extended several times). Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee. Travel must be fully completed by this date.
Redemption booking: Your can do the normal Avios refund, with the redeposit fee capped at GBP 35 per person. Alternatively for the same fee you can rebook to new dates subject to availability. Alternatively you can have an FTV.
BA Holidays booking: You may be get a refund proactively, otherwise you are looking at an FTV for at least the flight component of your trip, maybe for all components.
If all of the flights in your booking are still scheduled and you don't wish to travel then you best wait until a few days before departure in case there is a cancellation. As you can see above, a cancellation gives you better options. You are in scope with Buy with Confidence if you are flying between now and completing travel before 30 April 2022, also if you bought your ticket after 3 March and due to complete all flights before September 2021. The BA web page on this is: https://ba.com/confidence
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
A full refund of Avios and money paid plus a new voucher issued, which has validity for 6 months (from the date of issue, i.e. when you request the 'refund')
Lloyds Upgrade Voucher Notes
03 - How to find out the status of your voucher and the amount it contains
Use the Qantas website and look back to your original PNR. Step by step guide by corporate-wage-slave
04 - Future Travel Vouchers versus eVouchers
FTVs cannot be used online (and are not really vouchers), whereas eVouchers, issued for simple bookings, can be used online.
BA are now issuing eVouchers directly in simple cases, and also proactively replacing existing FTVs with new eVouchers. These are usable online. Complex cases still get FTVs, which require a phone call to book. In both cases, you need to apply online through the Cancellation Options in MMB, and both will generate an email typically within a few minutes. This is how to tell the difference
1) eVouchers will get an email entitled "Your British Airways eVoucher"
This will then have a line like this and the online ability is mentioned in the email text:
Your eVoucher details
125-1234567890 / GBP48.87 / WAGE-SLAVE /
2) FTVs will get an email entitled "Your British Airways Future Travel Voucher"
The relevant line then shows:
Voucher code(s)
125-1234567890
It doesn't take much, by FT standards, to turn a booking too complicated for the automated eVoucher. POUGs, flight changes, TCP, seat payment, pay payment with Avios, UuA. 48 and 72 hour Hold bookings all stop it. But if you made a simple single or return booking, point to point, on BA.com and didn't change it, then you should get an eVoucher.
If you obtain an FTV, deploy it on a new booking which BA then cancels, then you can get a refund of the cash from the first booking that led to the FTV. Or an Avios refund without redeposit fees if it was a redemption.
Commercial booking: Your options are: cash refund OR Future Travel Voucher (FTV) OR rebooking OR Avios credit
Redemption booking: Your options are: full refund of cash and Avios OR FTV OR rebooking.
BA Holidays booking: You should be given a refund pro-actively.
If your flight is cancelled by BA - any flight in the PNR - you can get a full refund so long as you booked directly with BA. You can only get a refund by telephoning BA. Refunds are taking between a few hours to a few weeks to be repaid, depending on the sort of booking made. If you don't wish to travel you can opt for an FTV or eVoucher valid for travel until 30 April 2023 (now extended from April 2022 including existing FTVs), though flights more than 355 days away are not currently bookable - flights are enabled at 355 days before departure. Vouchers such as 2-4-1 are also thereby extended. You can do this even if the flight is operating. The best advice we can give is to delay opting for an eVoucher options until the last moment, since if BA cancel your flight you have more options. BA have also adjusted the Standard Customer Guidelines so that if BA cancel the flight you can be rebooked to anytime in 12 months after you originally bought the ticket, so long as there is space in the cabin - there is no need to have a fare bucket available or Avios availability. If you choose the Avios credit you will get between 108 to 126 Avios per GBP of your fare. If you us,ed an FTV to pay for this now cancelled service then you can have a refund back to the FTV's original booking.
Online forms: manual process which may take many weeks
link to webform to claim a refund (UK) or link to webform to claim a refund (US)
Paid Seating Refund:
link to webform to claim a refund (UK)
02 - If your flight is not cancelled but you no longer wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until 31 August 2022 (this has been extended several times). Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee. Travel must be fully completed by this date.
Redemption booking: Your can do the normal Avios refund, with the redeposit fee capped at GBP 35 per person. Alternatively for the same fee you can rebook to new dates subject to availability. Alternatively you can have an FTV.
BA Holidays booking: You may be get a refund proactively, otherwise you are looking at an FTV for at least the flight component of your trip, maybe for all components.
If all of the flights in your booking are still scheduled and you don't wish to travel then you best wait until a few days before departure in case there is a cancellation. As you can see above, a cancellation gives you better options. You are in scope with Buy with Confidence if you are flying between now and completing travel before 30 April 2022, also if you bought your ticket after 3 March and due to complete all flights before September 2021. The BA web page on this is: https://ba.com/confidence
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
A full refund of Avios and money paid plus a new voucher issued, which has validity for 6 months (from the date of issue, i.e. when you request the 'refund')
Lloyds Upgrade Voucher Notes
- Flights can be used within 12 months, so it will be good for travel up until the end 6 months plus 12 months if you book just before the new expiry
- It's been advised to take the voucher instead of rebooking as it gives me more flexibility.
- The original expiry date of the voucher was irrelevant because the booking was cancelled.
- You must book within 6 months of the voucher being issued and the ticket has 12 months validity so you can change flights after, provided the new flights are within the 12 month window.
- You won't receive any email, only the refund and the miles.
03 - How to find out the status of your voucher and the amount it contains
Use the Qantas website and look back to your original PNR. Step by step guide by corporate-wage-slave
04 - Future Travel Vouchers versus eVouchers
FTVs cannot be used online (and are not really vouchers), whereas eVouchers, issued for simple bookings, can be used online.
BA are now issuing eVouchers directly in simple cases, and also proactively replacing existing FTVs with new eVouchers. These are usable online. Complex cases still get FTVs, which require a phone call to book. In both cases, you need to apply online through the Cancellation Options in MMB, and both will generate an email typically within a few minutes. This is how to tell the difference
1) eVouchers will get an email entitled "Your British Airways eVoucher"
This will then have a line like this and the online ability is mentioned in the email text:
Your eVoucher details
125-1234567890 / GBP48.87 / WAGE-SLAVE /
2) FTVs will get an email entitled "Your British Airways Future Travel Voucher"
The relevant line then shows:
Voucher code(s)
125-1234567890
It doesn't take much, by FT standards, to turn a booking too complicated for the automated eVoucher. POUGs, flight changes, TCP, seat payment, pay payment with Avios, UuA. 48 and 72 hour Hold bookings all stop it. But if you made a simple single or return booking, point to point, on BA.com and didn't change it, then you should get an eVoucher.
If you obtain an FTV, deploy it on a new booking which BA then cancels, then you can get a refund of the cash from the first booking that led to the FTV. Or an Avios refund without redeposit fees if it was a redemption.
BA Covid-19 Flight cancellations, rebooking, and refunds | Help and advice thread
Feb 6, 2021, 11:22 am
#601
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,772
Have a look at the EC261 thread, in particular the Wiki links to the Mennen's formula. It's a bit complex to work out and you have to divide off the refund of Avios now, which is offered by the agent, with EC261's formula, which can only be reimbursed after travel has been completed and is resolved by Customer Relations. And it may take an effort to get BA to do it, but you can at least work out what you should eventually receive.
Feb 6, 2021, 11:44 am
#602
Join Date: Feb 2021
Programs: BA, VS
Posts: 1
We have Avios flights to MLA in April. BA have contacted me to say the flights out on 4 April/back 11 April have both been cancelled. They have reprotected us onto flights going out one day later and returning one day earlier. This doesn't work, so we want to rebook to travel in August, when there are economy cash seats but not Avios availability. MMB was no use, but on the phone I got to speak to someone on the Exec Club line who - after much resistance and ultimately checking with his help desk - confirmed that in theory they could be rebooked for any time within a year of ticket issue (thanks for the info from this thread, which allowed me to push this with them, as they were not budging initially).
HOWEVER, they have told me we cannot rebook because our flights have *not* been cancelled. Despite a schedule change of over 24 hours in each direction, a change of departure airport from LGW to LHR, and an automated email specifically using the word "cancelled", they are resorting to semantics to say this is not actually a cancellation but a schedule change - as it is the same flight number.
A >24 hour schedule change is more than enough for a refund, of course, but I don't want a refund. Are they really within their rights to say rebooking without Avios availability is not possible in this instance?
PS Apologies if this issue has been addressed in the thread; I couldn't see it.
HOWEVER, they have told me we cannot rebook because our flights have *not* been cancelled. Despite a schedule change of over 24 hours in each direction, a change of departure airport from LGW to LHR, and an automated email specifically using the word "cancelled", they are resorting to semantics to say this is not actually a cancellation but a schedule change - as it is the same flight number.
A >24 hour schedule change is more than enough for a refund, of course, but I don't want a refund. Are they really within their rights to say rebooking without Avios availability is not possible in this instance?
PS Apologies if this issue has been addressed in the thread; I couldn't see it.
Feb 6, 2021, 11:59 am
#603
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,772
Welcome to Flyertalk Bob Mould and welcome to the BA forum.
I think the changes are indeed a cancellation in reality. You could try again in a day or two to see if you get another agent. There again I imagine that in any event the new services will also be cancelled so I'd just leave it a month or so, when the conversation will be easier, and you would have greater insight as to whether August is do-able. I wouldn't take anything for granted, so it may be better for you not to make a maybe booking which you can't in the end take.
I think the changes are indeed a cancellation in reality. You could try again in a day or two to see if you get another agent. There again I imagine that in any event the new services will also be cancelled so I'd just leave it a month or so, when the conversation will be easier, and you would have greater insight as to whether August is do-able. I wouldn't take anything for granted, so it may be better for you not to make a maybe booking which you can't in the end take.
Feb 6, 2021, 1:46 pm
#604
Join Date: Oct 2017
Programs: BA Gold, Tesco, Nectar
Posts: 313
Have just called BA to use a voucher for a booking - was told I would have to pay Ł30 telephone fee online since it was the 3rd time I was using the voucher (2 previous cancellations).Voucher is unusable online. Is this a hang up and call again? (Also the fare was about 50% higher than what was on the website)
As a separate question, is it true I can extend my GUF expiring this april, but booking something small with the GUF (domestic Y) and turning it into an FTV - Then can use this later for say an LHR-LAX J to F?
As a separate question, is it true I can extend my GUF expiring this april, but booking something small with the GUF (domestic Y) and turning it into an FTV - Then can use this later for say an LHR-LAX J to F?
Feb 6, 2021, 2:01 pm
#605
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,772
Have just called BA to use a voucher for a booking - was told I would have to pay Ł30 telephone fee online since it was the 3rd time I was using the voucher (2 previous cancellations).Voucher is unusable online. Is this a hang up and call again? (Also the fare was about 50% higher than what was on the website)
As a separate question, is it true I can extend my GUF expiring this april, but booking something small with the GUF (domestic Y) and turning it into an FTV - Then can use this later for say an LHR-LAX J to F?
As a separate question, is it true I can extend my GUF expiring this april, but booking something small with the GUF (domestic Y) and turning it into an FTV - Then can use this later for say an LHR-LAX J to F?
Beware maybe bookings........
Feb 7, 2021, 3:56 am
#607
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,197
Quick one... if my (2-4-1) flight was cancelled / they attempted to rebook me on a different flight that doesn't work for me, I assume I need to call to get my Avios / taxes back rather than getting a voucher?
It's way too much money to just leave tied up like that.
It's way too much money to just leave tied up like that.
Feb 7, 2021, 4:52 am
#608
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 63
Can you rebook a cancelled flight more than once?
If I rebook a cancelled BA flight to a later date, can I later change it again? Or do you just get one chance. If I subsequently decide not to travel, can I then apply for an FTV or refund? It's for a cash booking.
Feb 7, 2021, 5:06 am
#609
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,940
For a cancelled flight you get one free shot to change/refund. Once you have decided what to do, any subsequent changes or refunds will be in accordance with the fare rules - so in your example if you change and later on decide not to travel you would have to go for a FTV. Bear in mind there is no rush to decide what to do for your free shot
Feb 7, 2021, 5:07 am
#610
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,940
Yes you would need to call.
Feb 7, 2021, 12:33 pm
#611
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 148
Can I just check I've got my facts right on the following please?
Have a flight booked to Atlanta and back in April, booked with Amex companion voucher and Avios in Club World. It was originally booked for last June, cancelled for obvious reasons, and so we moved it to April this year (assuming the world would have returned to normal, ho ho). We booked it almost a year before the original flight dates (to get widest choice of redemption seats) sometime in Summer 2019.
The return leg of the booking has now been moved to the previous day which I know entitles us to a refund or FTV (assuming the whole booking will be cancelled soon anyway).
I'm presuming I can't phone up and move this booking to a future date in 2022 (ideally we'd fly in April 2022 instead), I'm sure I read that any new date would need to be within a year of the original ticket issue date (so essentially now nearly 2 years ago, so impossible).
So that means my options are two: refund of the Avios and tax (losing the 241, although we have a couple of others anyway which have built up) or get a FTV (just checking - to use this I would need to find flights with Avios availability in Club World before April 2023?)
Thanks
Have a flight booked to Atlanta and back in April, booked with Amex companion voucher and Avios in Club World. It was originally booked for last June, cancelled for obvious reasons, and so we moved it to April this year (assuming the world would have returned to normal, ho ho). We booked it almost a year before the original flight dates (to get widest choice of redemption seats) sometime in Summer 2019.
The return leg of the booking has now been moved to the previous day which I know entitles us to a refund or FTV (assuming the whole booking will be cancelled soon anyway).
I'm presuming I can't phone up and move this booking to a future date in 2022 (ideally we'd fly in April 2022 instead), I'm sure I read that any new date would need to be within a year of the original ticket issue date (so essentially now nearly 2 years ago, so impossible).
So that means my options are two: refund of the Avios and tax (losing the 241, although we have a couple of others anyway which have built up) or get a FTV (just checking - to use this I would need to find flights with Avios availability in Club World before April 2023?)
Thanks
Feb 7, 2021, 12:40 pm
#612
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LON
Programs: Mucci, BAEC, Eurostar
Posts: 3,287
So that means my options are two: refund of the Avios and tax (losing the 241, although we have a couple of others anyway which have built up) or get a FTV (just checking - to use this I would need to find flights with Avios availability in Club World before April 2023?)
Either way, yes full refund or FTV but you'd need availability for rebooking. I'm not in your shoes but if you have 2 more vouchers at the ready then I'd take the refund and decide the voucher is a casualty of covid. I've got one lapsing in April and have a feeling it's going to go dead too...
Feb 7, 2021, 2:55 pm
#613
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 1,167
For a cancelled flight you get one free shot to change/refund. Once you have decided what to do, any subsequent changes or refunds will be in accordance with the fare rules - so in your example if you change and later on decide not to travel you would have to go for a FTV. Bear in mind there is no rush to decide what to do for your free shot
Feb 8, 2021, 4:46 am
#614
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Cambridge UK
Programs: BA silver,
Posts: 254
Use FTV to upgrade cash flight??
I now have 4 FTVs to use up. If I made a new cash booking for a flight which would hopefully be cancelled, am I still limited to using only one FTV per booking as per the original BVC conditions.
I also have a separate cash PE booking. Is it possible to use a FTV to upgrade to J ?
I also have a separate cash PE booking. Is it possible to use a FTV to upgrade to J ?
Feb 8, 2021, 4:57 am
#615
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,940
You can use up to three cash FTVs when making a new cash booking.
I don't think you can use them towards POUGs or normal fare difference upgrades.
I don't think you can use them towards POUGs or normal fare difference upgrades.